John Quincy Adams letter found in New Jersey library

By ASSOCIATED PRESS | 8/1/13 10:13 AM EDT

PLAINFIELD, N.J. — A New Jersey archivist has found a letter from the sixth president, but the library isn't sure how it got there.

Plainfield Public Library's Jeff Wassen recently found the letter from John Quincy Adams in the institution's historical collection. In it, Adams declines an invitation to a Massachusetts anti-slavery society event.

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But library officials tell The Home News Tribune they're not clear on how it ended up in New Jersey.

The letter is from the late 1830s, when Adams was in Congress after his presidency ended.

While he said no to attending the event, Adams wrote that he was glad to see the abolition movement spreading, saying "I rejoice that the defense of the cause of human freedom is falling into younger and more vigorous hands."